Building with SMILES

SMILES (Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System) allows you to build molecules through a string of text. If you have a SMILES string (e.g., copied from a paper or website) or prefer to enter one for a complicated molecule, Avogadro will build a 3D geometry from the SMILES using Open Babel

SMILES is also a useful way to copy a molecule from a 2D chemical drawing program to insert into Avogadro.

Under the “Build” menu, hold your cursor over “Insert”, and select “SMILES…”.

Enter your SMILES fragment, and select “OK”.

There it is…

See Also

• Importing Molecules by Name – Import molecules by chemical name from online databases

• Insert Molecular Fragments – Insert common molecular fragments from the built-in library

• Template Tool – Attach functional groups to existing molecules